BrainStuff Classics: How Do Boogers Form?

Snot is a crucial part of our immune system, and boogers are a byproduct of that system. Learn how they form (plus, why eating them might be advantageous) in this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/nose-throat/boogers-form-in-nose.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hi
brain Stuff Lauren bog o Bam here with another classic
episode from our archives. One of the things I love
about this podcast is that we get to cover some
really big important questions about our planet, our society's, our future,
and also questions about boogers. Hey, brain Stuff, Lauren bog

(00:25):
Obam here. You've probably caught someone in the act of
picking their nose and inspecting the contents and disgusting, right,
But you do it too, except maybe you opt to
remove your boogers using a tissue in the privacy of
your own home or car, or that empty elevator you're
riding to the tenth floor. Whatever. We don't judge whether
you know them as a bat in the cave or

(00:46):
a nose goblin. There's a good reason for boogers, even
when they stick around in gelatinous little lumps. The lining
of the nose and sinus is also known as the
epithelium produce at least one court. That's one leader of
mucus every day. That's a lot of snot the mucus
in your scientusys keeps the nasal linings moist and helps
with your sense of smell. Most importantly, though, it traps dust, bacteria, pollen,

(01:09):
and other contaminants. Mucus essentially acts as a sticky fly strip,
grabbing pollutants and keeping them from getting into your respiratory system.
Without mucus, most of these particles would end up in
your lungs. The trapped mucus clinged miniature hairs called cilia.
The cilia move the mucus toward the nearest exit, either
toward the front of the nose or the back of
the throat, where it's swallowed in small amounts. But sometimes

(01:33):
the mucus has trouble fully exiting the nostrils. It begins
to dry out and may become clumped together. Additional dust
and other debris join forces with the drying mucus and huila,
a booger is formed. Buggers form more frequently when you
have the common cold or about with allergies. Dry, dusty
or air conditioned air can cause an increase in booger
formation too. Even with all this aired influence, a booger

(01:56):
may remain soft and rife with airborne particles. Sometimes, however,
a booger can become extremely hard and have rough edges
that can pierce the nasal lining, causing it to bleed.
Now for rather indelicate matter, the next time you see
a child, or help us all, an adult, inspect the
contents of his or her nasal cavities. Watch for surreptitious nibble.
Turns out the people eating their boogers maybe taking a

(02:19):
step forward on the evolutionary ladder. A biochemist at the
University of Saskatchewan theorized that eating boogers is actually a
way of introducing germs into and thus strengthening the immune system.
This hygiene hypothesis asserts that dining on bits of mucus
may actually build a superpowered immune response that could give
booger eaters an edge over the rest of us. Bone

(02:41):
up a teeth. Today's episode was originally produced by Tristan
McNeil and is based on the article how do boogers
form in your nose? On how Stuffworks dot com written
by laure L Dove. Brain Stuff is production of by
Heart Radio and partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com, and
it is produced by Tyler Klang. Or more podcasts my

(03:02):
heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows, h